If you're travelling by car, you might consider staying in one of the villages in the hilly wooded country northeast of Tulle. GIMEL-LES-CASCADES, in particular, is very beautiful and, out of season at least, very quiet. It is a minute hamlet, about 10km away and clinging to the edge of a steep valley beside a spectacular waterfall, the Montane, which has sadly been turned into a paying "sight" (March–June, Sept & Oct daily 10am–6pm, Wed from 11am; July & Aug daily 10am–7pm; €4). There's also a superb twelfth-century reliquary, known as the Chasse de St-Étienne, in the treasury of the local church.The attractive Hostellerie de la Vallée (tel 05.55.21.40.60, [email protected]; €40–55; closed Jan & Feb) in the village has a few simple rooms and a good restaurant from €15. A further possibility for accommodation is the friendly and unpretentious Hôtel Maurianges, near the defunct Monteil train station, one kilometre up the road from Gimel, serving copious home-cooked meals for €13 (tel 05.55.21.28.88; €30–40; restaurant closed Sat & eves out of season). There's also a campsite (tel 05.55.21.26.65, fax 05.55.26.82.61; closed Oct–May) by a small but beautiful lake, the Étang de Ruffaud, near Gimel, where you can swim and get a reasonable meal in the lakeside bar.
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